Draw was a fair result. Thought Xhaka and Torerria were brilliant, especially as they were technically outnumbered in midfield. The team continues to improve and it's great that substitutes are able to have an impact, amazing what a bit of competition for places can do.

I'm more happy with all the humble pie pundits are going to have to eat after saying we were going to get stuffed. Collectively they continue to show that their grasp of football is severely lacking.

I think you could argue that the fact he was there he was effecting play as Leno had to account for both Mane and Firmino so he couldn't know who was going to take the shot. I know he wasn't offside in the 'second phase', but even ignoring that he was effecting play by being there if he hadn't been offside he might not have beaten the defender to the ball so he gained an advantage by being offside.

Also, as a sidepoint for anybody who enjoys a laugh, the Netflix documentary on Sunderland's disastrous season in the Championship is availabe from next month. I've heard it's alright as far as football documentaries go, though obviously less entertaining to go through it all over again.

A switch in my brain just went *click* as you mentioned Sunderland... Tommy! (the name should have given it away, I know ¬_¬...)

You had like a furby for your avatar, or something like that, didn't you? How've you been keeping?

I must admit I kinda lost what's been going on at Sunderland after relegation, any sight of them turning it round?

I did! Changed it one Christmas and forgot to ever remove the Santa hat. Your memory is superior to mine, I'd never have remembered the furby.

I'm keeping well. Living up in the heady heights of Edinburgh now. Weird being the only considered a 'Southerner', but I'm adapting. Yourself?

Re. Sunderland - Last season was definitely the grimmest of my lifetime. When we were relegated from the Premier, it had been a long time coming and an opporutnity to clear out the 'deadwood' seemed like the best thing for us. But the club had reached the point where we were another QPR. Players weren't good enough or didn't have the right attitude to attract the same money elsewhere so why would they leave? Our new owners summarised it well when they bought the club; we were well known in football circles as a club where players could come and take the piss.

A mutual friend of mine knew a prominent player at during the Championship season and it had reached a point where he was doing extra physio while injured, went into the canteen to get something to eat afterwards and the chef just refused to make him food. 'Make it your fucking self'. Our record signing going AWOL this season and leaving for nothing sums us up nicely. Also, if you want a good laugh, look up Ricky Alvarez. We paid for a player who was never ours.

Things are on the up now though. The new owners, Stewart Donald and Charlie Methven (and Juan Sartori) seem to have done the impossible and really turned the ship around in a short space of time. Culture's entirely different now too. Had the fans involved in restoring the stadium, they sit in with the fans, do almost weekly or fortnightly podcasts and radio appearances to let people know what's going on. If you have a problem Donald (the majority shareholder) is reachable on twitter and replies to every message he receives.

We should've won at the weekend and finally taken the top spot from Portsmouth but only managed a draw. Promising times though. An anonymous fan is also donating a goat for every win we get in Jack Ross' name. So there's that.